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Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Tim (R-SC) today issued the following statement calling on Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign or for President Obama to immediately fire him following mounting evidence of what the VA inspector general calls "systemic" problems at VA medical facilities:

“While Secretary Shinseki is a distinguished American soldier and I appreciate his service to our nation, it is time for new leadership at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Every day, we hear more and more accounts of mismanagement, incompetence and corruption contributing to the deterioration in health or even death of some of our brave veterans. Our veterans and their families deserve better than 'secret’ waiting lists, shredded official documents and other nefarious activities in order to cover up backlogs of veterans’ claims.“President Obama has a clear choice to make in the midst of this scandal. He can either continue to find the deplorable treatment of our veterans as just ‘extremely troubling,’ or he can actually lead. I believe that after Secretary Shinseki’s departure, President Obama must work with those of us who care passionately about the men and women who have worn our nation’s uniform. He must name a new Secretary who will be a reformer and fix the mounting issues facing veterans, head on. “No matter who is Secretary, I will continue to fight to eliminate the case backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs, demand answers to the troubling accusations of corruption, and ensure that our promises to our veterans are kept.”Last week, Senator Scott, joined by 24 Senate colleagues, called on the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation to launch an immediate, independent investigation of mismanagement, incompetence and corruption at the Department of Veterans Affairs. A downloadable pdf copy of the letter to Subcommittee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) and Subcommittee Ranking Member John McCain (R-AZ) is available HERE.